Tarceva 100mg Day 9

Still no sign of a rash and still feeling pretty good.
This is just as well as my partner, Angie, is going into hospital today for an operation on her shoulder.
So this week I'll be playing nurse and Angie can put her feet up for a change.
The good news is she's going to be off work for weeks so we'll be able to spend a lot more time together.

New Tarceva Course - Day 8

On day 8 of the 150 mg course I broke out in a rash.
So far I have no sign of a rash this time and it's Day 8 of the 100 mg course.
Feeling pretty good at the moment, no cough and breathing not too bad.
Got my appetite back thanks to the steroids, taking 2 mg a day.
They also give me a little more energy than I'd have without them.
Also taking 20 mg of morphine a day.

Tarceva

My consultant didn't start me on the lower dose of Tarceva last week as expected.
He wanted to wait a few days for the rash to completely disappear and then arranged more blood tests.

I started the new course of 100 mg yesterday (Sunday).

This week I have been feeling pretty good, I'm back on steroids which I'm sure is the reason why.
They do help.

I'm only taking 2 mg of steroids daily but I have more energy than usual and went to the pub yesterday for the first time in weeks.

Tarceva

The doc is putting me back on Tarceva but at a lower dose.(100 mg)
I'll be starting the new course today and it takes around 8-10 days for the rash to start to appear.
Hopefully it won't be so bad this time.

I've tried to stay positive throughout the past few months but it really hit home this week that my time is running out.
You can't fight the ineveitable and I have to accept now that my time has come.

Mcmillan Nurses

I really can't praise these girls enough.
I had my first home visit from a Mcmillan Nurse on Monday and I warmed to her straight away.
These girls really do go the extra mile.
They don't just come round, administer treatment then leave.
They help with all manner of problems, even which benefits I should be claiming.
They are genuinely caring and it's just reassuring to know they are there 24 hours a day.

Getting back to my condition, following some really bad side effects from the new drug I'm taking I was told to stop taking it last week.
The drug is Tarceva and it is very new and relatively untested.
The main side effect is a rash which in my case became so bad my head felt like it was running alive with nits.
And my face was such a mess a parcel delivery man was clearly shocked when I opened the door to him last week.
I could read his thoughts "Jeez, what has this guy got?"

So what happens now?

I'm seeing Dr Taylor at Medway Oncology tomorrow afternoon to discuss the next step.

Terminally Ill

Following a chat with my Mcmillan Nurse this week it is now clear that I am considered "Terminally Ill"
The official prognosis is six months.
While I hope to prove them wrong I have to admit I'm feeling very unwell at the time of writing.

Bad News

On Friday 11th September I got some really bad news.
There is cancerous tissue in my right lung so I have to go back on chemo.